The embodiments described herein relate to systems and methods for packaging and transporting a bulk material. More particularly, the embodiments described herein relate to systems and methods for packaging and transporting coal within a flexible container.
Recent reports indicate that the United States has about 263,781 billion tons of recoverable coal. Yet, surprisingly, the U.S. exports only approximately 90 million tons per year. In contrast, Russia exports 116 million tons per year out of its estimated 173,074 billion tons of recoverable coal, and Australia exports 259 million tons per year even though it is estimated to have only one-third of the recoverable tons of the United States (84,437 billion tons).
One reason why the U.S. exports so little coal is because known transportation facilities and methods limit the ability to ship coal. According to known methods, coal is transported in its raw form via bulk carrier vessels (for intercontinental transport), and via open rail cars, barges, slurry pipelines and trucks (for intra-continental transport). Numerous factors limit the capacity of such transport means, including the lack of suitable deep draught ports and limited availability of coal handling facilities that can handle hazardous materials.
Known bulk transport processes utilized in the United States and other coal producing countries are also inefficient and environmentally unsound. In particular, after extraction, coal is typically loaded onto open trucks using construction equipment and conveyor systems, and then transported to a railhead. At the railhead, the coal is unloaded and stored outdoors in large open piles until further transport is arranged at a later point in time. When further transport is scheduled, the coal is reloaded onto available trains, typically in open, bulk rail cars.
When coal is destined for overseas locations, such as Asia, it is conveyed by rail car to ports that can handle bulk materials. According to known methods, at these ports, coal is unloaded and stored outdoors in large open piles until it is scheduled for loading on a vessel. Once a vessel arrives for transporting the coal, the coal is loaded onto one or more bulk holds of the vessel. Once the vessel arrives at its destination port, the coal is unloaded, stored and reloaded for further transport by land or rail to the generating plant or another end user. At the generating plant, the coal is again unloaded and stored outdoors in a large open pile, where it remains until it is needed. Thus, at multiple stages during known methods of transportation, coal is loaded, unloaded, stored, and reloaded. This repetitive loading, unloading, storage and re-loading of bulk material is highly inefficient.
Further, at each stage in the transportation process, coal is exposed to air and earth. Such practices are environmentally unsound, as coal dust is environmentally hazardous. Moreover, highly acidic materials can leach from storage piles into nearby aquifers. In addition, product is lost to the effects of wind and rain, having a negative economic impact.
The lack of deep-water ports can also be a limiting factor in the export of coal using known methods. For example, there are a limited number of deep-water ports throughout the U.S., particularly the west coast. Although most all U.S. ports can typically accommodate bulk vessels of the Handy class, which typically have a capacity in the range of 35-40,000 tons, most U.S. ports cannot accommodate larger bulk transport ships vessels. For example, most U.S. ports cannot accommodate large draught vessels, such as Panamax vessels (with a capacity in the range of 60-80,000 tons) and Cape vessels (with a capacity of 100-150,000 or more tons). While many west coast ports are seeking to expand their ability to accommodate larger bulk ships, these efforts have been delayed or prevented by cost, environmental laws and regulations, and community-based concerns. As a result, coal suppliers and exporters have had no choice but to incur the high costs associated with transport via Handy sized vessels through busy ports, shipping via Canadian ports or topping off in Canadian and other country's ports.
Until recently, Asian countries have been supplied with the majority of their coal requirements from China, Australia, Indonesia, South Africa and Russia. Because China has now become a net importer of coal, however, there is increased demand for large bulk carrier capabilities, and several port initiatives have been undertaken to address these deficiencies. Unfortunately, these initiatives, which are often related to changes in the infrastructure related to shipping, are costly, long-term projects that are facing increasing local and national concerns over the environmental impact of current handling and transport methods for coal.
Known bulk transport methods are also limited in their ability to deliver different grades of material, including value-added forms of coal, such as processed coal. Specifically, when transported by bulk carrier according to known methods, it is difficult to segregate materials, and to maintain their quality. While bulk transport methods may be acceptable for transport of raw coal, they are often not adequate for transport of a variety of forms of processed coal to multiple end users, except by inclusion in fluidized beds or pipelines. However, fluidized beds and pipelines are expensive to construct, maintain and/or utilize.
Although intermodal containerization of goods has made transportation of goods significantly more efficient than other transportation methods, bulk commodities, such as coal, have not been able to benefit from the intermodal containerized transport systems for a variety of reasons. For example, one such reason is that coal is subject to spontaneous combustion when exposed to air and pressure. Thus, shipping coal by container according to known systems and methods can increase the likelihood of spontaneous combustion.
Thus a need exists for improved systems and methods packaging and transporting a bulk material.